One Piece: Ultimate Adventure
by ultimatedbzmaniac
Summary: This is the tale of the Straw Hat Pirates, and their captain, Monkey D. Luffy, as they experience everything this world has to offer, both the good and the vile. Follow them on an epic adventure that will shake the world to it's very core, and will change the lives of everyone they've ever encountered. This is my version of One Piece, this is Ultimate Adventure. LuNa
1. The Destined Meeting

Alright I've been planning to write this story for a long time now, and I've finally gotten to it. Now allow me to explain the premise of it. I plan on taking all the Strawhats through my version of the One Piece story, in other words this is going to be an absolutely giant AU story. However instead of just one big change, there will be multiple tiny and giant alterations to all the plot lines within the story, as well as a few things created entirely by me thrown in for the mix. Pairings will consist of Luffy X Nami and Usopp X Kaya. I have yet to decide on any other pairings, I am open to suggestions however.

And as you are about to find out, the first big change is how early three particular Straw Hats meet each other...

Now then, some of you might know me from my first One Piece story, my one-shot known as Anything For His Navigator, and if you do then I've got a little explaining to do, which I shall now get on with. You see I said I would post several one-shots before I started working on this story, however several things prevented me from writing for a while, and after that I went on a bit of a binge, watching around two hundred episodes of One Piece, and in doing so got myself hyped up for this story here...my bad. Anyway so I decided to work on it, and while this is all I have so far, I'm very excited to keep going. I will still get around to those other one-shots though...eventually.

Also this is going to be a very, very long story, so I've got a lot of writing to do, however I've also got a tendency to get sidetracked, so updates will be quite infrequent. All I can truly promise is that I love One Piece to death, and that no matter what, I won't ever abandon this story. In fact I love this story that I'm creating so much, that I even posted the first chapter on my birthday...today. :)

Anyway, time for the disclaimer...

I do not own the rights to any characters or ideas from the Anime/Manga known as One Piece. They are the sole property of their creator Eiichro Oda and no attempt will be made to obtain any profit from the use of said property. I also don't own the image I'm using for the cover of this story, I found it using google search. So with that said please read, enjoy and review.

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><p>Two boys stood mere inches apart from each other, inside a cabin in a small marine vessel, as they bickered with each other.<p>

The first one, who stood three inches shorter than the second, wore simple blue jean shorts and a white short sleeved shirt along with brown sandals.

The second wore khaki shorts and a dark black mid sleeve shirt, as well as black sandals.

"Why do you have to be so mean to me!?"

"I'm not being mean you little brat, I'm toughening you up!"

"You sound just like Grandpa, you big jerk!"

"I do not! Say that again and I'll- what, hey let go of me!"

"Put me down Grandpa!"

Garp couldn't help but sigh as he hoisted both of his grandchildren up by the collars of their shirts, this was the third time that the two had gotten into an argument in the past hour. They fought like cats and dogs, and that was not an overestimate. However the vice admiral couldn't exactly blame the two, they had been stuck together on the same boat and in the same room for the past two weeks, and they didn't get along too well to begin with, so with that added it was no wonder they fought so much.

As the two young boys continued to try and wiggle their way out of his grasp, Garp decided that enough was enough. So he exited their room, and once they were out on the ship's deck instead of being inside the cabin, he brought one of them to his left side in mid air, doing the same with the other one on his right, and then before either of the two rambunctious kids knew what was happening, he slammed them into each other head first. When the two boys heads collided there was a resounding clunk, as well as a cry of pain from both of them. Garp then proceeded to unceremoniously drop both young boys onto the ground, causing both to fall to the deck of the boat, landing on their butts as they did.

The aging man then looked down at the two, and sure enough they were looking back up at him, tears threatening to start spilling from their eyes, as they nursed the large lumps on their heads. "That's enough! You two need to learn to get along, your brothers for Christs sake! Besides learning to get along with others is an important lesson to learn if you ever want to become a marine."

Both Luffy and Ace were scowling at this point, they had both decided a year ago that they weren't going to be marines, they were going to be pirates so they could live freely. However unlike his older brother Ace, Luffy wasn't going to keep quiet about it... not that he hadn't already spoke up about it, because he had. "But I already told you, I don't wanna be a marine, I wanna be a pirate! Just like Shanks!"

That's when a scowl formed on Garp's face, "Why you little punk! How many times have I already told you, no Grandson of mine is going to become a pirate!"

Garp added emphasis to this point by punching Luffy on the top of his head, causing the five year old boy to cry out in pain once more. With a smaller lump growing on top of the bigger one, Luffy decided there was no point in trying to argue any further on this topic of conversation. So he simply grumbled to himself, "I don't care what you say, I'll be a pirate someday, just you watch..."

Garp pretended not to hear the boy as he walked away from him and Ace. "Now then, the reason I even came to your room in the first place is because we'll be docking back at Fusha village any minute now."

At these words Luffy perked up, and proceeded to look out over the ocean towards Dawn island as they continued to close in on it. "Your right! This is great, I can't wait!"

Ace however made it quite obvious that he didn't care, as he stood up and made his way back to the room he and Luffy shared.

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><p>Bellemere couldn't help but smile at her two daughters, Nami and Nojiko, as the two ran about on the small ship they were on. This is only the second time they had been on the sea, and Nami being too young to remember the first time, was very excited when she found out they were going on a trip for a while. That's not to say that Nojiko wasn't, because she was, almost as excited as her younger sister. And those two were currently caught up in that excitement as they played together. It was slowly becoming a rare sight, with Nojiko being two years older then Nami she was beginning to insist that she help out with the tangerine orchard, which left her less time to play. And not wanting to be left out, Nami was also trying to help pick tangerines every now and then, so she can spend time with her sister. Nevertheless they liked doing it, and as long as it made them happy Bellemere refused to deny them.<p>

Her smile soon faded though as thoughts of why they were on the boat in the first place came back into her mind. But the twenty seven year old woman quickly banished those thoughts when out of the corner of her sight, she saw an island, the same island they were going to. So as the smile came back to her face, she called out to her daughters, "Nojiko, Nami, look we're almost there."

Both young girls quickly turned to see what their Mother was talking about, and the smiles on their faces grew even bigger as they realized they were about to go ashore.

Bellemere then said, "Yep, in less than twenty minutes we'll be docking at Dawn island, in Fusha village."

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><p>Koshiro's face was adorned with a small smile as he watched Zoro's and Kuina's duel come to a close, with the former as the loser and the latter as the victor. The dark haired man couldn't help but wonder, "How many times have they dueled now? Three hundred and seventy five? Or was it three hundred and eighty? No, the exact number is three hundred and eighty two I believe. Yes that's the correct number."<p>

Zoro had believed he would win within the confined space of the small ship they were travelling on, however Kuina proved once again that no matter how hard he tried he would never beat her. Or at least that was what she told him every time he lost.

Koshiro's smile remained as he turned to look at the island they were nearing, judging from the distance they were at, he guessed it would take around half an hour for them to arrive at their destination, Dawn island, more specifically Fusha village. Koshiro planned on opening a temporary dojo there for a few years. However he wouldn't leave his students unattended, which was why Zoro, Kuina, as well as all of his other students were on the boat with him, at least the ones that had gotten the consent of their parents that is.

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><p>As soon as they were docked, Luffy was off the boat and racing toward Partys Bar, where he knew he'd find Shanks's crew. While Ace on the other hand wandered off in the opposite direction. Garp did nothing to stop either of the boys, he had somewhere he needed to be, he would deal with those two later. This task was of such great importance to the old marine, that he didn't even spare a second of thought to trying to take the red hair pirates into custody, even though he knew of their presence here.<p>

So he made his way past Partys bar, towards an empty two bedroom house. It was in that house that he would meet with who he needed to. Which really was the only reason he wasn't taking care of the red hair pirates, because this was a time sensitive matter and required his attention first.

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><p>Once the ship had docked, and the other passengers had gotten off, that's when Bellemere and her two girls got off. She held both girls's hands, as she looked around for where the meeting place was supposed to be. Not seeing it, she began to make her way farther into the town. She made small talk with both Nami and Nojiko as she did this.<p>

It didn't take very long for her to find said meeting place, considering this was the first time she had ever been on the island she was glad she was able to recognize it when she saw it. She led both her daughters inside the house, before closing the door behind her. That's when someone spoke up, "There you are Bellemere."

The red haired woman's eyes were immediately drawn to the person who said these words, and he looked exactly like she remembered him, well there was just a tiny twinge of grey in his hair now, but nevertheless there was no mistaking who she was looking at, Garp the Fist. "It's nice to see you again and all, but I don't think my girls wanna hear us talk about our time in the marines, so is there anywhere they can go while we talk?"

A smile found its way onto Garp's face at that point, "Sure is, have them head over to Partys bar, they'll be looked after."

Bellemere quirked an eyebrow at that statement, "You want me to send my little girls to a bar?"

Garp couldn't help but laugh at that, "Don't worry about it Bell, the bartender there is really sweet. Her name is Makino, and she'll watch out for them."

Bellemere couldn't help but close her eyes and grit her teeth in frustration, "How many times have I told you not to call me that?"

This just caused Garp to laugh once more.

Knowing she wouldn't be able to get her point across, Bellemere merely sighed, before opening her eyes and saying, "Alright then, I'll trust your judgement."

The red haired woman then crouched down so as to look the girls in their eyes, "Nami, Nojiko, I want both of you to do as he said, go to Partys Bar and ask for Makino, tell her Garp sent you, okay?"

Both young girls nodded and replied in unison with, "Okay Bellemere."

With that the two left the house, and since that was done Bellemere got to her feet, and turned towards Garp once more. "Now...let's get down to business."

Garp's smile disappeared and he nodded as he replied, "Alright then, if that's what you want. As I told you in my letter, the Marines are close to finding you, and you know they show no mercy to deserters. I know you had a good reason for going AWOL, but no one up top would care about that."

Silence reigned after that for several moments, before Bellemere responded with, "Then where do we go from here?"

"I think I might be able to fix this, but it's going to take time, and a lot of it. Even with the best case scenario, where everything went perfectly, I'd need a year at the very least."

Bellemere remained silent.

"But while I'm doing this you can't be in Cocoyashi, so I need you and your two girls to remain here in Fusha village until I've finished doing all I can. I can provide you with this house, but I'm afraid that's all I'll be able to do. You'll have to find a way to support them and yourself without your tangerines...I'm sorry that I have to put you in such a difficult position, but it's the best I can do."

A scowl finally managed to etch its way onto Bellemere's face at that point. "Is that so? But what about my tangerine orchard back home? Who will take care of it and harvest them when their ripe? And the villagers, what about them? I told them I'd be gone for two months maximum, what happens when I don't come back? Finally what about Genzo? If we're more than a day late he'll be forming search parties quicker than you can knock someone out, and he's not one to give up either, everyone will be busy searching for us for months. We can't have that happening."

Garp nodded his head in agreement with what Bellemere said, "I understand your worries, but don't let them get to you now. Focus on providing for your family here, while I make arrangements to take care of all those problems for you. I promise you, I'll get it done."

Bellemere sighed at these words, but nevertheless agreed. "Alright."

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><p>Koshiro led Kuina, Zoro and the rest of his students along, as he made his way to the building he would begin preparing to become a dojo. They had docked less than five minutes ago, so they hadn't been walking long. Nevertheless Zoro was already bored, so instead of keeping his eyes on everyone else, he let them wander as he walked. It took less than thirty seconds for something to catch his interest, and what did that was a boy with dark hair, who had just been tossed out the doors of a building no more than twenty feet away from the young green haired boy's position. This event had Zoro halt in following everyone else, as he continued to watch the dark haired boy, who held back tears as he got back to his feet, having landed on his ass when he was thrown, and reenter the establishment, that with a quick glance up Zoro found was named Partys Bar.<p>

However less than twenty seconds later the same boy was once again thrown out of the bar, almost landing flat on his face, this time though the sound of rowdy laughter could be heard coming from the bar in mass. But that didn't stop the black haired boy from getting to his feet once more, before rushing in again. And yet again he was thrown outside, causing all the laughter to grow in volume.

The young green haired boy didn't know exactly what was going on, but that didn't stop him from heading over to the younger boy with black hair. But just as he was close enough to speak to him, he rushed inside the building again. Zoro just followed.

The young swordsman trainee wasn't expecting what he saw, instead of a bunch of cruel jerks tossing a young boy about for fun, he saw a bunch of friendly looking men, drinking, eating and laughing, having a great time. That's when Zoro's eyes found the young black haired boy, as he stared down who appeared to be the leader of the group.

"I'll show you how strong I am! And then you'll have to let me join your crew Shanks!"

The red haired man who was known as Shanks just laughed harder at that statement, "Like I'd ever let a five year old join my crew! Your far too weak, you'd wind up dead in a day! You don't have what it takes to be a pirate Luffy!"

None of the words Shanks spoke had any malice behind them, but they still angered the young boy, "I do too! And I'm not weak, my punch is stronger than a pistol!"

As he shouted these words, the young boy known as Luffy charged forward towards Shanks. However just as he was close enough to actually touch the much older man, he was snatched up by the collar by said man, who continued to laugh as he chucked Luffy in the opposite direction, which would have sent him outside the building, however with Zoro standing in the way...

It took the young green haired boy two seconds too long to figure out Luffy was on a collision course with him, so even as he tried to get out of the way, he still failed.

"Oh cra-"

The swordsman trainee didn't even get to finish his sentence as the black haired boy hit him, knocking him back several feet and right over onto the ground, putting both of them outside, although just barely.

Zoro had cushioned the impact for Luffy a bit, so it only took a second for him to realize he had hit something besides the ground and get up because of it. As he got to his feet he saw who he had been thrown into, it was a boy with green hair, wearing a cobalt blue training Gi and some black sandals. He had sat up at this point, and was rubbing the back of his head as that was one of the two places, along with his torso, that took most of the impact.

Before the other boy could speak, Luffy offered his hand to help him up, wiping away the tears that had wanted to come out not even a minute ago. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."

Now normally Luffy wouldn't really care if he got in trouble for something, or made someone angry, however this kid had nothing to with the current situation and had ended up taking some of the impact that was meant for him. Plus he didn't have any friends, and he wouldn't go making any by getting upset at everyone for any little thing they did.

Zoro stopped rubbing his head and looked up at Luffy, which if he was standing up wouldn't need to be done, and spoke, "It doesn't matter, something stupid like that isn't gonna hurt me anyway."

Once he finished saying this he took Luffy's hand and let the younger boy help him to his feet. Now that they were both standing, Zoro shook the black haired boy's hand and said, "Well since we crashed into each other, guess we'd best introduce ourselves huh? My name is Roronoa Zoro."

Luffy couldn't help but give a large smile as he responded, "My name's Monkey D. Luffy, glad to meet ya!"

Zoro couldn't help but smile in return, though not as large as Luffy's. "So...your punch is stronger than a pistol huh? Care to prove it?"

This slight mirth filled question and challenge just made Luffy's big smile grow even larger. He wasn't sure why, but Zoro had a feeling he was going to like this kid.

"Want me to show you?"

"Bring it."

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><p>It only took two minutes for Nami and Nojiko to get to Partys Bar, however before they could enter the establishment two boys hit the ground in front of them. It looked as if they had been thrown, which one of them had been, not that they knew that.<p>

Both girls were taken off guard for a moment, so both remained silent even as both boys got to their feet and introduced themselves, not that either girl heard their names, not really paying attention to what they were saying.

Neither boy seemed to notice the two girls, even as they continued to speak to each other. Which was weird, since if they just turned their heads a few centimeters they'd be quite capable of seeing the girls.

Nojiko was shocked that they didn't seem to notice them, more so than Nami was, who was more curious over the fact that these two seemed to be very different from the boys from back in her village. However they were here for a reason, so they past the boys, neither of the two noticing them still, and entered the bar.

All eyes were drawn to the two young girls, most of the patrons expecting it to be Luffy again, but seeing them raised curiosity nevertheless. Nami and Nojiko seemed to shrink under the gaze of all the men in the bar, and yet they still managed to not show any hesitation as they made their way over to the bar itself. Nojiko was the one to speak, "Excuse us, we're here to see Makino, Garp sent us."

The dark green haired woman who had just served the red haired man just a few feet away perked up at those words. "Is that so? You two must be the daughters of one of his friends, right?"

Both young children nodded their heads.

The woman smiled in return, "Well it's nice to meet you, I'm Makino. Please take a seat girls."

The two children complied and climbed up onto two of the stools, as they did Makino got two glasses and filled them up with orange juice, which both girls gladly accepted. But before they could even take a sip, their eyes, as well as everyone else's, were drawn to the entrance of the building as both of the green haired boy and the black haired boy entered the establishment. What really stood out was the fact that the one with green hair had a red bruise on the left side of his face, and it was no coincidence that it was the same size as Luffy's hand when it's balled up into a fist.

Now no one in the bar knew why Luffy hit the kid, but that didn't stop everyone but Nami, Nojiko and Makino from bursting into rowdy laughter once more.

Zoro didn't even seem upset either, then again only he and Luffy knew that he was the one that asked for it...literally.

Though they entered together, Zoro stayed back as Luffy approached Shanks once more. He climbed up onto the stool beside him before speaking once more, "Listen up Shanks, I'm not going to stop until you make me a member of your crew, and that's that."

Even as Shanks's laughter died down, a wide grin filled with mirth remained. "Is that so?"

Shanks motioned for Makino to pour him a drink and pointed towards the orange juice, even as he continued to talk with Luffy. "Well let me reward you for your tenacity then, here have a drink on me."

He passed the now full glass to Luffy, which the young boy proceeded to thank him for and take a large gulp, which caused Shanks and the rest of his crew to burst out into laughter once again, Makino joining in this time. In reaction to this the dark haired boy put his glass down and asked grumpily, "What is it this time!?"

"Pirates don't drink orange juice you little fool!"

This served to just anger the young boy, "You big jerk! Why'd you trick me like that!?"

"Sorry little buddy, but you're just far too easy a mark!"

Even Nami and Nojiko were laughing at this point, finding the situation quite funny.

Zoro couldn't help but chuckle a bit himself, even if he could personally relate to his new friend's frustration, it was still funny to see.

Luffy huffed in frustration, before crossing his arms in defiance and turning away from Shanks. The young black haired boy then proceeded to get off the stool and head toward the entrance of the establishment. "Come on Zoro, let's go."

Both boys then exited the building.

Nami's eyes followed the boys as they left, which was noticed by only Shanks and Makino, the latter of which said something about it, "I'm not sure who that green haired kid is, however I know the other one pretty well, his name is Luffy, and he's stubborn, but also sweet. If you want to follow after him I'm sure he won't mind."

Nami smiled at those words, and just as Nojiko was going to say that they weren't going to do so, her younger sister did just that as she hopped off the stool and went after them. "Nami wait!"

She didn't though, so Nojiko got off her stool as well and tried to catch up.

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><p>Luffy and Zoro didn't get too far from Partys Bar before someone called out to them, "Hey, wait up!"<p>

Both boys turned back to see who was calling out to them, and they saw a girl with orange hair that neither of them had ever seen before. She wore a yellow and green casual dress and beige sandals.

Zoro spoke at a low volume so you could only hear him if you were close, "I have no idea who she is, do you know her Luffy?"

The young swordsman trainee looked at his new friend as he asked this, however Luffy didn't respond, he didn't even seem to notice the fact that he had been spoken to, his eyes only focused on the girl who was getting so close to them.

Nami had now closed the distance between them, but before she could speak, Luffy said something first, not really realizing what he said until after he said it. "You're really pretty..."

This caused the young girl to blush madly, and Zoro to do a double take at the young black haired boy, now looking at him as if he was nuts. "Are you crazy? She's not pretty at all!"

And just like that the red hue on Nami's face went from being from embarrassment to being that way because of pure rage. "What did you just say!?"

Zoro didn't seem affected by the younger girl's anger, as he merely replied with, "You heard me."

This comment seemed to have quite effect on the young girl, as sharp, shark like teeth suddenly filled her mouth and she proceeded to say, "How would you like me to give you another bruise to match the one already on your big ugly face!?"

The young green haired boy was quite taken back by her now more feral appearance, however he did not back down. So with a condescending tone he said, "You don't scare me little girl."

That was it, Nami quickly lashed out with her left fist and hit the right side of Zoro's face as hard as she could, which knocked him flat on his backside. What Zoro then thought to himself was, "Crap! That hurt almost as much as Luffy's punch did!"

Luffy felt the need to cower away, he couldn't help but think, "She's scary..."

As the young orange haired girl realized that she had just done that in front of a boy who had just gotten done complimenting her, the red hue on her face went back to being from embarrassment, and just like that her sharp teeth were gone, as if they had been illusion, and she went back to looking shy. As Luffy realized this, he sweat dropped.

Nojiko had seen most of this from afar as she had been closing in, but she did not know about Luffy's words. She took a few steps closer so that she could help the green haired kid to his feet, and as she did she asked, "Exactly what did you do to get hit like that? You really must have made her mad."

The blue haired girl had on an amused smirk as she said this. She wore a jean casual dress, over a dark blue shirt and red sandals.

Zoro scoffed before replying with, "I just told her the truth, she isn't pretty, not even in the slightest."

Nojiko sighed at that, "Yep, that'd do it. You brought that one on yourself."

Zoro however just turned away, scoffing once more, causing Nojiko to sigh once more. "Anyway, since we're here, might as well introduce ourselves. I'm Nojiko, and this is my little sister Nami."

This brought the smile back to Luffy's face, as he replied with, "I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and that there is my friend Zoro. It's good to meet you guys! It's always great to make new friends!"

His smile seemed to be infectious, as Nami and Nojiko cracked small smiles of their own at his words. Even Zoro couldn't help but smirk at Luffy's words, even though you couldn't see it with his back turned.

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><p>Koshiro, Kuina and the rest of the students had finally reached the soon to be new dojo, however once they were inside it didn't take long at all for everyone of them to realize Zoro was nowhere to be found.<p>

When they did come to the conclusion that he wasn't inside the building with them, Kuina face palmed, saying, "I knew his sense of direction was bad, but this is just ridiculous..."

Koshiro merely shook his head slowly, barely believing Zoro got himself lost when all he had to do was follow them.

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><p>The atmosphere in Partys Bar was even more joyful than usual, and this was because Shanks and his whole crew, and Makino as well, were celebrating the fact that Luffy had finally made some friends.<p>

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><p>Ace was no longer even in Fusha village, he was instead wandering the forest outside of said village. He hadn't even run into any wild life yet, which was strange, but the eight year old brushed it off. He was sure he wouldn't find anyone else out here, and yet when he came upon a small clearing with a large rock in the middle, he saw a blonde kid sitting upon it. Which basically proved him wrong.<p>

This boy's clothes were quite unique, he wore a large, fancy black hat with goggles on it, and a fancy blue and black outfit to match, Ace hadn't really seen anything like them. So, his curiosity piqued, he approached the boy. As he got closer, he spoke, "Hey you, what are you doing out here?"

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><p><em><span><strong>To Be Continued...<strong>_


	2. The Birth Of Strawhat Luffy

Mikalzilla: Well here you go then, next chapter served up on a silver platter. XD

Hanashi: They are aren't they?

apocalyps24: I'm glad you like the first chapter, but as for hoping about Luffy eating a different devil fruit, I'm sorry but this chapter will dash those hopes. Again sorry, but since I first began thinking about what to do with this story I had already decided he'd keep his original devil fruit ability.

DonWar: Really? I haven't yet run across any time travel stories where they meet as children. Could you name a few so I could check them out? I'd really appreciate it. :)

F-ckthesystem125: Well thank you, I'm glad you like it.

Like I said, here's the second chapter. Before we get on with it though, I feel I have to better explain what I mean by 'infrequent updates'. You see when I say that my updates will be infrequent, that basically means I could update anytime, it just depends if I have a whole chapter down, if personal matters get in the way, or my internet goes down. With that said, I plan to release two or three chapters a month, however I could also only put out one chapter within a three month time frame, it just depends on what's going on around me at the time. Sometimes I can get updates out very fast, it really just depends.

There are two big things that really get me amped up and ready to write the next chapter though, the first being watching new episodes of One Piece, english dub, and, (initiate review begging mode), reviews! I love reading your reviews, whether they be praise, constructive criticism or just talking about what you enjoyed in the chapter and what you didn't. Hate flames though, but saying that won't stop them from coming in, now will it? Of course not. Anyway, on with the chapter.

Now then, please read, enjoy and review.

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><p>It had been an entire year since Luffy, Zoro, Nami and Nojiko met, and one year since Garp had left, leaving both his grandsons to fend for themselves in Fusha village...again.<p>

The four children that met that day haven't left each other's sides very often, having become quite attached to each other. However it would be more accurate to say that Luffy, Nami and Zoro were the ones who were attached, for most of the time Nojiko was only around them so as to keep her younger sister from getting into too much trouble. That's not to say she didn't like them, no, in fact she liked them quite a bit.

While the three had indeed grown quite close, getting along was a completely different matter altogether. While Luffy and Nami got along well, just as Luffy and Zoro did, that wasn't the case with Nami and Zoro, for the two were almost always at each other's throats, bickering over this and that, getting into fights over any little thing. Nojiko on the other hand wasn't too friendly with either boy, however they didn't argue much either.

Luffy had yet to introduce them to Ace, much to the younger black haired boy's annoyance.

Nevertheless Luffy was happier than he had been in a long time, he hated being all alone, and that's exactly what he was before, alone. Shanks wouldn't acknowledge him, his Grandpa refused to allow him to follow in the path that he wanted to take, and Ace downright didn't seem to like him, always saying mean things and wandering off on his own, or at least he used too, lately he had been easing up on the mean words, but made up for it with increased wandering. It was a lot better than how he treated him when they first met at least, now that had been bad.

And the fact that Luffy was an outcast among the other children didn't help his feeling of loneliness one bit...

* * *

><p><em>Nine months ago...<em>

_As both Nami and Zoro followed Luffy to his house, they noticed how anybody they came across who wasn't an adult avoided Luffy like some kind of disease. Luffy had told them that they were his only friends, but they both honestly thought it was because the young black haired boy just didn't play with the other kids. They never thought it was because everybody avoided him, which would forever confuse the hell out of them, this was because they had never met someone as nice, carefree and playful as Luffy. So they were baffled that the other kids were doing this, especially since it was in stark contrast to their parents, who seemed to like Luffy. Before either the swordsman trainee or navigator to be could think over this further, they were awoken from their thoughts by their friend's voice, "We're here."_

_The house was a modest one, with no paint and only a few windows. It was obvious that the house had been made right from a tree instead of going through the process to make the wood more suitable, milling the two children would later know it as, looking as if someone had chopped down a few trees and had used the wood almost haphazardly to make this house, when Nami asked her mother about this later she would shake her head and say, 'That's Garp for you.'_

_Luffy opened the door almost hesitantly, as if he just didn't want to enter the house. And once they were inside Nami and Zoro could understand why, it looked abandoned. It wasn't in bad shape, but it was empty. There were no pictures, no furniture, besides the one bed, there was hardly anything in the so called place of living. And judging by all the dust and cobwebs both young children could guess that Luffy didn't really spend any of his time here, not that they could blame him, just being in here could invoke the feeling of loneliness on someone._

_As Luffy went to the bedroom to grab something, Zoro and Nami both glanced out the window closest to them and found that several kids were staring at them, or more specifically at the building they were in. "I can't find it! You guys go on without me, I'll catch up as soon as I find my fishing rod!"_

_Those words got their attention, and hesitantly they left after making sure that Luffy was alright with it._

_However they didn't make it more than a dozen feet from Luffy's home, if you could even call it that, before two kids confronted them. One a boy, and the other a girl, both appearing to be a year older than Zoro. The boy was the one to speak, "What are you two doing?"_

_Nami was the one to respond, "What do you mean?"_

_"Why are you hanging out with that freak?"_

_That took both children back. Nami was confused as she asked, "Freak? You mean Luffy?"_

_The girl finally spoke, sneering as she did so, "You call him by name? What are you, friends?"_

_The tone she took was quickly angering both Zoro and Nami, however the latter was the one to reply, "Yeah we are, and what's so wrong with that?"_

_"Don't you know what he is?"_

_Zoro was the one to speak then, "Stop beating around the bush and tell us what you're going on about."_

_"He's a monster."_

_This caused the anger to drain from both the young green haired boy and the young orange haired girl, they were so taken back by this statement they just blinked their eyes in bewilderment, unsure of what to say. "He's a what?"_

_"A monster. A little over a year ago we tried to play with him but it ended with him breaking my brother's leg and he gave her brother a really bad concussion. We were all just trying to play soccer when he came and ruined everyone's day! He says he was just trying to play, but he ended up kicking my brothers leg along with the ball and broke the bone in two, and the ball he kicked hit her brother in the face so hard that he was in the hospital for over a month. He says it was an accident, but even if it was, nothing human is that strong."_

_The girl picked up where the boy left off, "Plus every time someone's tried to play with him, there was an 'accident' that ended with them being hurt, not one kid has managed to go near him without ending up in the hospital. Everyone he comes near gets hurt, if that's not what a monster is, I don't wanna know how bad real ones must be. Point is that he's a freak, and no one should ever even want to go near him."_

_Both Zoro and Nami had to fight the urge to deck the two kids in front of them...but in the end they failed and both the boy and girl were soon on the ground crying._

_Nami, still angry even after hitting the girl, spoke, "What jerks!"_

_Zoro nodded in agreement, "You're right about that one."_

* * *

><p>Now though Luffy didn't feel so alone, not with Nami and Zoro around. All three of them knew what the other aspired to do, Luffy wanted to be a great pirate captain, Zoro wanted to be the greatest swordsman in the world, and Nami wanted to draw a map of the world, and the three supported each other's goals.<p>

Although Nami was at first very against the idea of Luffy becoming a pirate, she never believed the crap about him being a monster. However it still took some convincing, but Nami eventually began to support Luffy with his goal as much as Zoro did, Nojiko however remained against the idea, or at least she refused to become a pirate herself that is.

* * *

><p><em>Six months ago...<em>

_"But you can't be a pirate Luffy, you...you're too nice! And I don't want you to be a pirate!"_

_Nami was doing her best to hold in the tears that were threatening to spill out as she said these words._

_Luffy was upset as well, though more angry and frustrated then sad. "But Nami, you've always known that I want to be a pirate! I told you that the first day we met!"_

_Nami began to sob at this point, "I know! I just tho-thought that you'd change your mind eventually! Like your Grandpa says, pirates are mean and nasty, I thought you'd realize that and quit wanting to be one! I like you, so I don't want you to become a pirate! Because...because if you do, then...then I can't be your navigator!"_

_Tears had finally begun to fall from Nami's eyes at that point._

_Zoro was scowling at this scene, as was Nojiko, though for a different reason since she agreed with Nami, showing this by nodding her head._

_Luffy took two quick steps towards the orange haired girl, before grabbing her by the shoulders and forcing her to look him in the eyes, even as tears threatened to spill out of said eyes. "No! Whether I become a marine, or a pirate, no matter what Nami, you will always be my Navigator!"_

_Nami gave a small gasp, before embracing Luffy tightly as she continued to cry._

* * *

><p><em>Later that day after Bellemere and her daughters had finished eating dinner, while Nojiko washed the dishes Nami asked her mother if they could talk about something. Bellemere wasn't a hundred percent sure what Nami wanted to talk about, although she had a good hunch.<em>

_After she had agreed to hear her daughter out, Bellemere watched, amused, as her daughter got all shy and hesitant._

_"Bellemere, what would you say if this boy I liked wanted to become a...a pirate, and I said that I...that I wanted to be his navigator when we got older?"_

_After she finished saying this she closed her eyes tightly, afraid of the verbal lashing she was sure she'd receive. She knew that her Mother used to be a marine and fought pirates, which was exactly why the young girl and her older sister disliked them so much._

_Bellemere's amused smile grew even more after her daughter finished speaking. She knew exactly who Nami was talking about, Monkey D. Luffy, grandson of Monkey D. Garp. She had met him on several occasions, he was a sweet kid, although very wild, but so was Nami, she had also heard a lot about him from Makino, her co-worker since she now worked at Partys Bar as well. She knew how set on becoming a pirate he was, making it quite ironic that he was the grandson of a marine hero such as Garp. But all that aside she liked the kid, and she was pretty sure the two had little crushes on each other, even if they were still in the stage of youth where kissing someone would never even cross their minds. She found it adorable, and quite honestly if this was what Nami really wanted, then Bellemere wasn't going to say no._

_"I'd say that if you really care about him, then there's no way I'll be able to stop you, now is there?"_

_Nami was not expecting that, so she was visibly taken back, her eyes now open and wide open at that. However soon she overcame her shock, before locking Bellemere in a tight hug, repeatedly exclaiming, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"_

_Bellemere couldn't help but chuckle as she hugged her daughter back, she was very pleased that she could make her so happy by saying something so simple._

_Nojiko wouldn't tell either her sister or her mother, but she had heard everything they had said, which put most of her dislike for pirates to rest._

* * *

><p>And that was set in motion because of the lingering tension from what happened two months before that...<p>

* * *

><p><em>Luffy was at his limit, he was out of ideas, he now had absolutely no way of convincing Shanks that he was tough enough to be on his crew, and that had him very upset. But that was when he realized something, what was one thing that almost everyone from Shanks's crew had in common? A battle scar of some kind, but what the young boy failed to realize was that most men were proud of their scars because it showed that they had survived a tough battle, not that they had proved just how much pain that they could endure like he thought.<em>

_And with that false realization the young black haired boy knew what to do._

* * *

><p><em>The next day, while Shanks was busy partying it up with his crew, too busy to notice him, Nami and Nojiko were preoccupied talking with Makino, and Zoro had his back turned for a few moments to grab a hold of his orange juice, Luffy took action. He hopped off his stool and snuck over to an unsuspecting member of the red haired pirate's crew, and proceeded to steal their dagger from the holster on their left hip. Luffy looked at it for several moments, contemplating how he would do this, doing so without having any second thoughts at all.<em>

_Once the young boy knew where he wanted to do this at, he made his way back over to his seat, before climbing back up onto it, and then climbed up onto the counter itself. He then turned to everyone and shouted to get Shanks's attention, at the same time attracting everyone else's as well. "HEY SHANKS!"_

_With a smile still on his face, the red haired pirate turned to Luffy, wondering what he was up to now. However when he saw the dagger in the young boy's hands his eyes widened and his smile disappeared._

_The intensity in Luffy's words was close to its max as he said, "I've tried everything I can think of to show you that I could be a great pirate, but no matter what I do you refuse to accept me as a crew member! This is the last option I have left! Watch this Shanks, let me show you just how tough I am!"_

_Everyone realized what Luffy was about to do a few seconds too late, because before anyone could stop him he drew the dagger back with both hands, before plunging it into his own face, just a few inches below his left eye. As blood splashed from the self inflicted wound Luffy's cry of pain was echoed by four voices._

_Makino, "Luffy!"_

_Zoro, "What the hell!? You idiot!"_

_Nami, "Luffy no!"_

_Shanks, "You little fool!"_

_Shanks was the first one close enough to do anything, he immediately yanked the dagger out of Luffy's face, before throwing it across the room. "Makino get the first aid kit! We need to disinfect the wound and bandage it up so he doesn't get an infection!"_

* * *

><p><em>An hour later, after he had been bandaged up he received a lecture from Makino and Shanks, but what affected him the most was Nami's reaction. Her eyes were red and puffy, even as tears continued to fall from her face. Before the young boy could even get a word out Nami began to pound on the top of his head with both fists, beating him into the ground as she cried repeatedly, "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, you're so stupid! Why would you do that!? You're such an idiot! Why hurt yourself over something like that!? Why!?"<em>

_Nami stopped hitting the black haired boy as she finished saying this, but no less then a second afterwards she locked him in a tight embrace before speaking once more. "Please don't ever do something like that again, okay?"_

_Luffy was speechless for several long moments as he hugged her back, but he eventually managed to find his voice, "Okay Nami."_

* * *

><p>From that day on Luffy decided that he would become a pirate without Shanks's help, he would be captain, have his own crew and his own adventures. Of course he was sure his two best friends would be by his side when that happened as two of his crew.<p>

* * *

><p>Current day...<p>

Luffy had to fight the urge to slump down in his seat, as Shanks had just made another joke about him being a horrible swimmer. It wasn't as if he didn't try to learn, it was just no matter how hard he tried to get it, he just ended up sinking. Of course thanks to Nami and Zoro, he could now at least keep himself above the water, that didn't change the fact that he was still the worst swimmer in the entire village, bar none. And the red haired pirate just wouldn't let him forget it, no matter what.

The young boy was currently seated in the stool in between Zoro and Shanks, Nami and Nojiko sitting in the two stools to the left of the pirate. And all four of them were laughing about it, the joke that Shanks had made that is. They weren't the only ones either, the entire pirate crew, as well as Makino were laughing it up as well. Yep, Luffy really wanted to slump down in his seat, only problem with that being that it was a stool, which hadn't stopped the young boy before, but the last thing he wanted was Shanks making a joke about him falling down too.

Just then all attention was drawn away from Luffy, as the door to the bar was thrown open violently. The one responsible for opening the door that way entered, leading a group of men inside as he did. Judging by their appearances, they were mountain bandits.

Ignoring all the attention he had called to himself, the man looked around for a few moments, before speaking, "So these are the pirates we heard so much about? They all look like losers to me."

This garnered no reaction from Shanks or his crew, seeing that, the man opted to approach the counter, where Makino proceeded to smile at him politely as well as greet him. "Welcome. What can I do for you?"

The man could tell she was uneasy, so letting an arrogant smirk cross his face, he said, "Don't worry, just give us ten barrels of sake and we'll be on our way, no damage will be done to your bar if you do."

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid we're all out of sake at the moment."

The bandit quirked an eyebrow at that, "Is that so? Then what are all these pirates drinking then? Water?"

Makino answered, her polite smile changing into an apologetic one, "It's sake, but it's also the last our stock."

At those words Shanks, the only one who hadn't been watching the man since he entered the establishment, looked up from his drink and spoke, "Oh sorry, looks like we went and drank the place dry. There is still one bottle left that's unopened."

The red haired man then grabbed said bottle off the counter and offered it to the bandit, "It's yours, if you want it."

The bandit scowled at Shanks, before shattering the bottle, the drink it once contained splashing all over the red haired man and the bar. Luffy, Nami, Nojiko and Makino all gasped, while the mountain bandits began to laugh, the pirates on the other hand remained silent, watching their captain, who's head was down with his hat shadowing his eyes so they, as well as his face, couldn't be seen.

The bandit who broke the bottle, who was obviously the boss of the others, then spoke, "You don't know who your talking to, do you? You shouldn't take me lightly, I'm a wanted man with an eight million berry bounty on my head. I am the great mountain bandit, Higuma. One bottle won't be nearly enough for me, let alone my men."

As he said this he slammed his wanted poster onto the counter, using it almost like a business card. At that moment Luffy wished that Bellemere was working today, because if this guy had pulled this crap in front of her, she would've knocked him on his ass.

Everything was quiet after that for a moment or so, before Shanks broke the silence, casting Makino an apologetic glance as he did, "Now the floor's all wet. Sorry about that Makino."

As Shank's got out of his seat and knelt down to begin picking up the shards of glass, he asked, "Do you have a mop?'

Makino quickly came out from behind the counter, speaking as she did so, "Oh, no Captain, it's fine, I can manage it."

Before she could get to Shanks and the mess, Higuma drew his sword and proceeded to slash it along the bar, cutting a groove into the wood and sending everything on that particular section of the counter crashing to the floor to make an even bigger mess. Higuma sneered before speaking once more, "Well if you enjoy cleaning so much, now there's even more to clean up."

All Shank's did in return was stand up and lean back against the counter, not showing an ounce of emotion and keeping completely quiet as he did. And as the pirate captain did that, Higuma sheathed his blade before proclaiming, "No point in wasting our time here if there's no sake, let's go men!"

The mountain bandits were laughing even harder as they left, Higuma making one last remark before walking out the door with the rest of them, "Later, cowards."

With them now gone, Makino came over to Shanks and began to clean him up with a towel she had in her hand, "Are you hurt anywhere Captain?"

Shanks waved her off, a smile on his face as he said, "I'm fine, it's no problem."

Luffy had remained silent the whole time, doing his best to keep his temper in check, however now that the bandits were gone he could no longer keep himself from doing so. "Why did you just let them get away with that!? They insulted you and your whole crew, they ruined your drink, they caused trouble for Makino, and they spit on what it is to be a pirate, don't you care!?"

Shanks remained collected as he took his seat once more, though not looking at Luffy, and answered with, "Of course I do Luffy, but those guys were idiots, they weren't worth the effort. Besides all they did was spill a little booze on me, nothing to get worked up about, right men!?"

That's when the red haired man and his entire crew burst into laughter. And the crew proceeded to take it a step further, making fun of Shanks about how lame he just was.

Luffy, frustrated with the pirate captain's answer, and annoyed with him and his crew in general, reached for the weird looking purple fruit in the chest they had brought in. If he was going to be like that, then Luffy decided he'd just take the food he was saving and eat it himself to get back at him. Zoro didn't say anything as he did this, and Nami tried to whisper to him that it probably wasn't a very good idea, not that the dark haired boy cared. While Nojiko just shook her head back and forth. He even ate it despite it's bitter and all around nasty taste.

By the time Shanks looked back over at Luffy the boy had already stuffed the whole thing into his mouth and was busy chewing, his cheeks puffed out quite comically since his mouth was so full. This piqued the red haired man's curiosity, mainly because he hadn't ordered Luffy anything to eat, and Makino hadn't moved touched a plate in the past few minutes. That's when Shanks realized the small treasure box that was on the counter was empty, and it only took a second for the pirate captain to realize what happened. "Luffy, please tell me you didn't eat that strange looking fruit we brought in with us! You didn't right!?"

These words had Luffy's eyes widening real wide as he realized he had probably just made a mistake. He merely nodded, before accidentally swallowing the thing whole.

And then faster than the four children could see, Shanks was on his feet, holding Luffy upside down by his own feet and shaking him like crazy, a frantic expression on his face, and his voice full of anxiety. "Spit it out, spit it up, choke on it and cough it up, puke it up, I don't give a damn! Whatever you do, just get that thing outta your body you idiot!"

However no matter how hard and fast Shanks shook the six year old boy, none of those things happened. In fact at one point, Luffy's legs stretched, allowing the rest of his body to go down, causing him to hit his head on the floor. This shocked everyone there except for Shanks himself. "You little fool! Do you know what you've done!? You just ate a Devil Fruit Luffy, the Gum Gum Fruit, when someone eats one they gain a inhuman power, but in return they can never swim again! You may be made of rubber now, but how can you be a pirate if just falling overboard out on the sea is a guaranteed death sentence!? You just threw away your future!"

Zoro, Nami and Nojiko were still speechless because of shock.

Luffy's eyes were wide open, and they were locked onto Shanks's, even if he was upside down. His eyes said it all, Luffy knew Shanks wasn't exaggerating, what had just happened would change everything.

* * *

><p>It had been a week since Luffy ate his devil fruit, the gum gum fruit, but not much had changed just yet, besides the fact that Luffy couldn't swim anymore that is. That didn't change the fact that things would be different eventually, they just didn't know how.<p>

As to what Luffy, Zoro and Nami were all currently up to, they were seated beside each other inside of Partys Bar, talking to Makino as they drank their juice. It was a slow day, Shanks and his men were currently preparing to leave the village, for good. They had been here for two years, much too long for any pirate to stay in one place, but they had grown a soft spot not only for the village, but for Makino and Luffy in particular. Shanks especially.

They said they'd come back to visit eventually, but of course they had no idea when that might be. Luffy planned to see them off, in fact he was planning on heading to the docks in less than ten minutes, however not everything always goes how you plan it...

Not one of the young children turned to see who it was as people entered the bar. They didn't think anything of someone coming into the establishment, but that was before they heard a voice, "You smell that boys? That's the smell of fresh air without any pirate scum to stink it up with their lies and cowardice."

All three children knew who's voice that was, it was Higuma's. They wished he would keep his mouth shut, but despite that he continues to speak. "Hey wench, bring as all the rum, sake and liquor you own, we're here to drink!"

Luffy was currently gripping his glass quite tightly in an effort to keep himself calm, slowly cracking the glass in the process as he did so. Trying to keep calm was in vain however, as Higuma continued to run his mouth. "Can you believe their so called 'Captain'? He was such a pushover, I bet I could take the weakling with one hand tied behind my back! He was so pathetic!"

That was when Luffy's grip tightened to such a degree that the glass cup shattered in his hand, luckily he didn't get cut by this. But the noise of this drew Higuma's and his men's attention. "Shut up! Just shut your mouth!"

Luffy jumped off his bar stool before turning to the mountain bandits and continuing, "You don't know what your talking about! In fact you don't know anything! Shanks is a great man, and one of the best pirates to ever exist! A thousand of you couldn't compare to him!"

That effectively put scowls on all the bandits's faces, Higuma was the only one to speak though. "Your going to regret that you little brat."

The Bandit Leader took several steps forward, stopping just inches from where Luffy stood besides his bar stool, before back handing him with all his strength, knocking him to floor.

"Luffy!"

This cry was from both Nami and Makino.

Zoro scowled at what happened, before getting off his seat and calling attention to himself. "Hey stupid, why don't you try and hit me like that? See what happens."

Nami, true to her position as the voice of reason within their three person group, quickly tried to diffuse the situation, getting off her bar stool as well. "Zoro stop, we need to see if Luffy's okay."

As if that was his cue, Luffy got back to his feet, no visible marks on his face at all. Even he seemed confused by this, especially since it hadn't hurt. Nevertheless it didn't dowse any of his anger, "Is that all you got ya big jerk!?"

Higuma's scowl grew larger at those words.

* * *

><p>Several villagers attention was caught as Luffy came flying out of Partys bar, going several more feet than he usually did, tumbling near the end until he was lying flat on his face.<p>

Not even two moments later both Nami and Zoro came out of the establishment and rushed to their best friend's side. Only a moment later they were followed by Higuma and his bandits. And as Higuma slowly approached the three, a very smug smirk continued to grow on his face. "That's what happens when you mouth off to us kid."

With those words said, Zoro turned to face the bandits, his anger evident. "You're a swordsman right? Then draw your sword, because you'll need it!"

The swordsman trainee then drew his two bokken, gripping both tightly in each hand, before proceeding to try and rush the much older swordsman. This elicited a worried cry from Nami, "Zoro!"

The young boy did not even acknowledge her.

Higuma let out a few cocky chuckles, before asking, "Just what do you think you can do with those things? Their just puny wooden swords, they can't compare to the real thing."

"If you believe that then you're not a true swordsman! So just keep laughing your annoying laugh, while I pay you back for hurting my friend by painting you black and blue!"

This caused Higuma's chuckling to turn into full blown rowdy laughter, his underlings all following his lead and bursting into laughter as well.

As his anger grew, Zoro finished closing the gap between him and the bandits, before taking a swing at Higuma's midsection with both wooden swords, that he sidestepped. It was an error on his part however since he still hadn't drawn his sword, so Zoro merely took one step back, and put all the force he could into his right swing, slamming both bokken into the bandit leader's right side, causing the older man to wince in pain. Shocked by this, neither Higuma or his underlings moved fast enough to stop the young green haired boy from spinning almost three hundred sixty degrees to the left and slamming both his dull weapons into the older man's left side, causing him a lot more pain than he thought a child ever capable of inflicting upon him.

As Zoro drew his wooden blades back for another attack, Higuma lashed out with right hook, which he dodged, and then a kick, which he also dodged.

Gritting his teeth in annoyance Higuma decided to finally draw his blade from it's sheathe, doing so with his left hand since it was located on his right hip. "Alright brat, you asked for it. I won't show mercy on you."

Zoro responded by lunging at the older man, and he reacted by taking a swing at him with his sword, which the young green haired boy weaved out of the way from almost effortlessly, before punishing the older swordsman for his sloppy maneuver, doing so by slamming both of his bokken sideways into his lower abdomen, almost forcing a cry of pain from the bandit leader because of the force behind the attack.

A lot more villagers had gathered by now, and they were too shocked, just as the bandits were, to intervene. However both sides were snapped out of it when Higuma spoke up, "What the hell do you guys think you're doing!? Get this kid!"

With that order from their boss, three of them picked Zoro up, one holding him in a full nelson, the other two trying to wrangle his bokken away from him. They succeeded, but only barely. And as the young swordsman trainee continued to struggle and hurl every insult he knew at them, the villagers finally tried to intervene, but the other mountain bandits kept them at bay. Makino had already gone to get the mayor, so all the villagers hoped that he would be able to resolve this, but until then they could only watch. And as they did, more and more of their fellow villagers came to see what was going on.

Higuma sheathed his sword, wincing in pain as he did so, his lower abdomen and both of his sides still hurting from their meeting with the wooden blades. He then took a step closer to Zoro, being suspended in the air by one of his underlings, before he began pound on the young boy. "You think you can make a fool out of me!? I'll show you ya damn brat!"

Luffy was already on his feet at this point, Nami trying her best to make sure he was okay and wasn't bleeding anywhere. As she did this, the young raven haired boy kept the tears that wanted to come out at bay, their existence only coming into being because of how the young boy felt watching as Zoro did his best to fight the mountain bandits, only to have his weapons taken from him and the leader begin to hit him, again and again, not looking intent on stopping for a while.

Without giving Nami any warning, Luffy charged forward toward the mountain bandits, more specifically Higuma himself.

"Luffy don't!"

He didn't listen to her, which annoyed her to no end. Even if they could beat this guy, they couldn't take all of the other bandits on, surely they knew this? The young girl was able to answer her own question rather quick. "Of course they don't. Ugh, why do they have to be so stubborn!?"

The young orange haired girl watched Luffy as he got closer and closer to the mountain bandits, and as she did she sighed, "If it wasn't for me those two would never get anything done. I better go help."

The young pirate to be had gone unnoticed by the bandits as he quickly closed the distance between himself and them, that was of course before he jumped as high as he could and slammed his right fist into Higuma's left side.

This caused the pain in the bandit leader's side to flare up once more, this time it being worse than before. Higuma let out a grunt of pain, barely managing to keep it coming out as a cry, and ceased with his attack on Zoro, his attention now on Luffy. He snatched Luffy up by the collar of his shirt, but as he did this he failed to notice Nami, who was now right in front of him as she brought her right leg back as far as she could, before shooting it forward, kicking him as hard as she possibly could in the shin. "Let him go you big jerk!"

The mountain bandit leader proceeded to hiss in pain, but did not loosen his grip on the struggling raven haired boy. So Nami brought back her leg once more, before kicking upward, slamming her right foot into the man's crotch with all the force she could muster. "I said to let him go!"

This did get the bandit leader to cry out in pain, quite loudly as well.

All men within the vicinity, whether they be villager or bandit, all cringed in unison as this happened.

The agony Higuma was in forced him to drop Luffy as he fell to his knees, tears brought on by the severe pain threatening to come out. Nevertheless the mountain bandit leader's attention was now on Nami, and he quickly retaliated to the kick in the balls he had just received, "Why you little bitch!"

He backhanded the young navigator to be with all his strength, sending her to the ground, where her head took most of the impact, causing her to cry out in pain.

Nami's cry lit a fire within Luffy, and with more anger than he had ever felt before in his ridiculously short lifetime, he shot forward toward Higuma and rammed his right fist into the older man's face, punching him with all his might.

This happened as the mountain bandit leader was trying to get to his feet, so because of the unexpected attack, and all the strength behind it, he stumbled backwards as he got to his feet, hissing in pain once more.

As he did this, Luffy grabbed ahold of his necklace, which proved surprisingly strong as it held the young raven haired boy's weight.

Luffy held onto necklace tightly with his left hand, while repeatedly ramming his right fist into Higuma's face with all the strength he could summon, and as he did he cried, "Don't you hurt Nami!"

As this happened the bandits looked like they were going to help, after they got over their shock from it happening, but Zoro wasn't going to allow it. So as to keep them off of Luffy, the green haired eight year old kicked out with both of his legs as hard as he possibly could, hitting one of the bandits in the chest, causing him to stumble back. He then threw his head back, slamming it into the face of the guy who had him in the full nelson, this headbutt was just what he needed as the bandit let go of him. It was a short fall to the ground, so Zoro was able to land on his feet, however several bandits were upon him immediately and began to beat him mercilessly.

Higuma stumbled around for a dozen or so moments with the young raven haired boy wailing on his face, before eventually tripping and falling backwards, landing on his back on the ground. As this happened, his necklace gave and tore in two at the last moment, but at this point Luffy had given all he could give, he was panting, having put his all in the one handed beating he had put on that bastard's face.

Nami was now on her feet as well, a large bruise already apparent on her face and just a bit of blood trickling from the left side of her mouth.

When the young girl saw Luffy, she rushed over to see if he was okay. He was sitting on Higuma's chest, panting, so she wanted to check him for injuries, and then scold him for being so stupid and reckless.

However once she was close enough to do so, Higuma pushed her to the ground, before wrapping his right hand tightly around Luffy's throat. "My turn you fucking brat."

* * *

><p>Zoro, Nami, Makino, Woop Slap and almost the entire village were standing around the mountain bandits as the leader, Higuma, held Luffy in the air by his throat, slowly cutting off his oxygen.<p>

It hadn't even been ten minutes since the three children had fought back, and luckily the mountain bandits hadn't killed any of them yet. Although Higuma himself was in the process of trying to do so to Luffy.

The only reason Zoro and Nami weren't in the clutches of the bandits at this point was because while they were all focusing on Higuma and Luffy, some of the villagers grabbed the young green haired boy and the young orange haired girl, before putting several feet of distance between them and the bandits, despite their protests of wanting to stay with Luffy.

Mayor Woop Slap had already tried reasoning and bargaining with the bandits, but they refused to be swayed, they were going to kill Luffy no matter what the villagers said. However before they could make good on that Shanks and his crew happened upon the scene, "I was wondering why no one had come to see us off, now I know why."

"Shanks!"

This was called out by Luffy and Makino.

Everyone's attention was drawn to Shanks and his crew at that moment. The bandits then proceeded to insult them and ask how they could save this boy when they themselves were so weak. However they were soon forced to shut up, as the red haired pirate began to walk forward toward them. That's when one of them pulled out a pistol and aimed it at the straw hat wearing pirate, this did not have any effect on him though. In fact he was totally calm, a seriousness in his eye no one but his crew had seen before. "Are you willing to use that pistol?"

"What?"

"Now that you've drawn that pistol, are you willing to use it?"

Then, in the blink of an eye, the plumper member of Shanks's crew, Lucky Roux, appeared beside the man with a gun to his captain's head, a gun of his own now pressed to the would be shooter's head. And then, with no warning, Lucky pulled the trigger and blew the bandit's brains out, ending his life.

The pistol fell from his hand and hit the ground with a clank, before his body fell to the ground as well with a thud.

The fierceness in Shanks's eyes as he proceeded to speak scared the rest of the bandits, including Higuma, out of their minds. "Weapons are for action, not threats. Now I can be a very forgiving man, you can spill food on me, drench me in booze, hell you could even spit on me and all I'd do is laugh it off, but when you hurt a friend of mine, that is unforgivable...and you will die for it."

Out of the corner of his eye he could see the damage the bandits had done to both Zoro and Nami, bruises upon the bodies of both of them, the former being covered in them, and the latter only having one big one, and they were both bleeding as well. Zoro from the back of his head, both his nostrils from his broken nose, and some from both sides of his mouth. Nami just had some dribbling from the left side of her mouth. All the damage dealt to them had obviously come from them trying to defend Luffy.

At the same time he also noticed all the damage done to Higuma, to his face in particular. He had a busted lip, and several very familiar bruises, as well as blood sliding out of his nostrils, someone had done a number on his face, that was for sure. And the red haired pirate was a hundred percent sure that Luffy was the one who did it. This caused Shanks to think, "Looks like Luffy shares my sentiment about friends"

Yes, Shanks was more sure now than ever that Luffy would be a great man someday.

One of the bandits then muttered something about them fighting dirty, to which Yasopp set him straight and let him know that they were pirates, it was what they did.

Higuma then gave the order for all of them to attack, which they did, but were all quickly taken down by Ben Beckman, who used nothing but the butt of his rifle to take down every last one of them. This left Higuma in shock for several moments, before he pulled a smoke bomb and escaped, leaving everyone but Shanks and his crew dazed.

* * *

><p>Higuma now stood on a small rinky-dink boat that could barely hold even one person, heading further away from the island. He figured that no one would think to look for a mountain bandit on the sea, and since that was the case he no longer needed Luffy and could kill him, just as he wanted to from the beginning. So he looked him in the eyes and said, "No one can help you out here you little fucking brat, so it's time to send you to your watery grave. And I'm going to enjoy watching as you drown for what you did to me."<p>

Luffy had yet to stop struggling, "Let go of me you bastard!"

Higuma proceeded to then toss the young boy into the ocean, where he struggled with all his might to stay afloat, even though no matter what he would sink. But the mountain bandit could not watch this scene so as to enjoy it, this was because he heard something coming out of the water behind him, which by laying eyes on it he knew it was a sea king. He screamed in horror as it opened it's jaw and sprung forth towards him, and then in an instance the screaming was gone as the beast took the bandit into his maw and proceeded to swallow him and his tiny boat whole.

Luffy continued to struggle and cry for help, but that didn't matter as the sea king now had its sights set on him. The beast went below the surface, but the young boy knew it was still coming for him. As the sea king burst out of the water and towards Luffy he could do nothing but scream for help one more time.

In the blink of an eye Luffy felt himself pulled aside into a one armed embrace, and when the young boy opened his eyes, the sight he would see shocked him.

Shanks was clutching him close to himself with his right arm, he only used this arm because almost his entire left arm was gone, eaten by the sea king, and only a bloody stump was left. And yet shanks remained completely unfazed.

That was when the sea king turned around, intent on coming back for the rest of his meal, but Shanks met his eyes before speaking in a dangerous and commanding tone, "Get lost."

And just like that the beast was swimming away in horror.

Luffy was currently sobbing uncontrollably, his face buried in Shanks's shirt. Seeing this Shanks's tone became gentle once more, "Calm down Luffy, you're safe now, everything is okay."

Between broken sobs the boy spoke, "Bu-but Shanks, your arm!"

"It's okay, it's just an arm. Your life is more important than that."

* * *

><p>The next day...<p>

Luffy stood alone on the docks, as he watched the Red Hair Pirates pack up their ship for the final time. They were leaving for good this time, they wouldn't be back for a long time, if at all, and on top of that they said even if they did come back it would never be for this long again. Their departure was supposed to have happened yesterday, but with all the craziness their departure had been pushed back until today. Luffy was alone because everyone had already said their goodbyes to the lighthearted, good natured pirates.

Shanks approached the young boy to say goodbye, Ben Beckman, Lucky, and Yasopp by his side. When he was merely inches away he looked down into Luffy's eyes and spoke, "It's time for us to leave. Does this sadden you?"

Luffy nodded his head, "Yeah it makes me sad. But I won't ask you to take me with you, I already told you months ago that I'd make my own crew with Zoro and Nami. Even if I still wanted to join your crew, I wouldn't abandon them to do so."

It went unnoticed by Luffy but the spark of admiration that was born in Shanks's eyes yesterday grew at that statement. This boy reminded him of his old captain in so many ways...

A defiant look came into being within Luffy's eyes, as he stated proudly and loudly, "With Nami and Zoro by my side I'll gather a crew and a ship even better than yours! And then I'll find the One Piece and become king of the pirates!"

And then another gleam came to be inside Shanks's eyes, one that his crew recognized as him seeing something amazing. Which he had, after all what are the odds? The same person who reminded Shanks so much of his old captain had just claimed he wanted to follow in his footsteps, it had to be fate. "You're going to become better than us huh? And your going to become pirate king on top of that? Alright, hold onto this for me then."

As Shanks said these words he took off his straw hat and placed it upon Luffy's head. "This hat means a lot to me, promise me that you'll take good care of it and bring it back to me someday, when you become a great pirate."

Luffy nodded his head once more, barely managing to keep the tears in that wanted to come out. "I promise."

With that Shanks and his men turned and walked away, before getting on their ship and setting sail.

Once they were at a certain distance from the island, Ben spoke up, "That kid's really gonna make something of himself huh?"

Shanks didn't nod, but he did respond, "Yeah...he acts just like I did when I was a kid. And sometimes he does things that make him seem just like my old captain. He makes me want to see the next generation that is getting ever closer...and just perhaps he'll be the one to lead it."

* * *

><p>Luffy continued to watch Shanks and his crew sail away from Dawn island, he would not take his eyes off their ship, even with the sun almost done setting, and the fact that the ship was nothing more than a dot on the horizon at this point.<p>

Once the ship could no longer be seen by anyone, Luffy finally turned around and slowly began to make his way off the docks, promising something to himself as he did. "I swear when we see each other again Shanks, I'll be an even greater pirate than you, just you wait!"

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>To Be Continued...<strong>_


	3. Life After Shanks

Hanashi: Not quite yet I'm afraid, we still have a few more chapters to go before the real adventures begin. I'm glad you thought it was worth the wait, and I can't blame you, it's a good emotional scene.

kushjay805: Well thanks, I'm glad you like it.

bcgcdak: Thank you for complimenting my writing, and as for how much will change...well the best way to put it is the same way I did in the first chapter's author's note, instead of just one big change, there will be multiple tiny and giant alterations to all the plot lines within the story, as well as a few things created entirely by me thrown in for the mix. I can't go much deeper into detail than that, otherwise I'll end up giving away things that are going to happen that I don't want anyone to know yet. XP

I'm sorry that I can't answer your question any further than that, and I hope it doesn't negatively influence your decision on whether to keep reading this or not. But whether you do continue to read or not, I thank you for taking the time to do even do so in the first place, and I also want to thank you for taking the time to review so...thank you. :)

F-ckthesystem125: I'm very glad you liked the chapter so much. As for what's next, you'll see, but as you already, since I just wrote it at the top, know, it'll be a few more chapters before their really good adventures start.

Don'tneedtoknow: Well here it is.

Finally here's the next chapter, now then, please read, enjoy and review.

* * *

><p>It had been three weeks since Shanks had left, but with his two best friends by his side Luffy did not mope over that fact because he was happy. Three things had happened in those three weeks though, the first being the fact that the other kids in Fusha village had found out about Luffy's new ability, and that changed things.<p>

* * *

><p><em>Twenty days ago...<em>

_Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Bellemere, Makino and Woop Slap were all currently heading towards the house Garp had built for his grandson, this was because Makino had mentioned heading over to tidy it up, with the Mayor's assistance. Bellemere then insisted that she would come along as well to help, and since it was his house she brought Luffy along to help do some of the actual cleaning. Nami had wanted to help as well, so she tagged along. Zoro on the other hand refused to help, mainly because it wasn't Luffy who had asked him to, partly because he didn't want to clean, nevertheless he ended up getting dragged along anyway because Nami said he had to, and well...she usually gets her way when it came to matters concerning her two male friends. The young green haired boy had put up resistance, but Bellemere ended up stepping in, which meant that he wasn't currently walking to his best friend's house, he was being dragged by his ear to it._

_Once they reached said building a small frown graced the former marine woman's face, but she didn't say anything. Once they entered the house and she took a quick look around however, she did speak, but only to herself, "You've got to be kidding me. Seriously Garp? This is the best you could do? This house can't be anyone's home, not like this, so...empty and devoid of life...as well as joy."_

_As the three adults began to clean, Luffy noticed several children out one of his windows, and a smile stretched across his face as an idea hit him."Maybe if they see my cool new powers, they'll start liking me! And then I'll have even more friends!"_

_With that thought the rubber boy lent the broom he was supposed to be using to sweep against the wall, before exiting through his front door. He stood in front of his house for a moment, making eye contact with one of the children, but before he could go over to them he was stopped by Zoro, the green haired boy placing a hand on his shoulder, the door closing behind him as he did. He had noticed the kids around the same time as his best friend, and once he left out the front door, he proceeded to follow. "Are you sure of what you're about to do Luffy? Just because you've got a devil fruit power now, doesn't mean that they'll treat you any differently."_

_The straw hat wearing boy gave his friend a quizzical look as he asked, "How'd you know I was going to tell them about that?"_

_The swordsman trainee shrugged at that, "I just did."_

_The black haired boy smiled at his friend, "I guess we're just that good of friends, I'm glad. But Zoro, even if their mean to me again, maybe just one of them will like my new power, and then that person will become our friend. Don't you think it'd be worth it? After all, there's no such thing as having too many friends."_

_That was good enough for him, so Zoro removed his hand from his friend's shoulder, doing his best to fight back a frown as he did. "Alright then, go ahead."_

_So Luffy turned to look back at the kids and began walking towards them. As he did Nami exited the house, and seeing what was happening she looked to Zoro, "You didn't just do what I think you did, did you?"_

_The green haired boy nodded as he said, "I did."_

_"You bonehead! How could you!? You know all their going to do is be cruel to him again!"_

_"Luffy seems to think that it'll be worth it if he can make even one more friend, so I let him go."_

_"Why!? He's already got us, why does he need anyone else!?"_

_Zoro leveled a glare at Nami that she hadn't ever seen him use before, "Because we won't always be here."_

_These words took Nami back for a moment, almost as if they were a physical blow, "Wha-what?"_

_"You mean you never considered what would happen when you left and went back to your village? You said it yourself, you're only staying here temporarily, you, your sister and your mother will all leave this island, whether that's tomorrow, or a year from now doesn't matter. As for me, I'll be leaving with my Master when it's time for us to return home. As much as I wish to stay here with Luffy, if I did I would never become as strong as he needs me to be as first mate. We can spar all we like, but the fact is that he's no swordsman, and I won't learn anything about being one by training with him. Sure we're both getting stronger because of the training, but that's not enough. And when we leave, where will that leave Luffy? He'll be all alone again. Sure he has Makino, and his brother, who we still haven't even met yet, but that alone tells you how much he's around. While we will all meet again one day to form our pirate crew, who knows how long that'll be? I don't know about you, but I feel sick thinking about leaving my best friend all alone until then."_

_Nami looked ready to cry at that point, "I guess I never thought about all of that..."_

_Zoro gave the girl a sympathetic look, "I figured that. I wish I didn't have to think about it myself, but it's better than not knowing at all, in which case it would have hit us even harder when we did leave."_

_Still trying to hold her tears in, the young orange haired girl nodded her head, while bowing it, "Yeah."_

_That's when the six year old felt a hand placed gently on her shoulder, so she looked up at Zoro, who's hand was the one on her person. "Look, it'll be okay, we just have to help him find someone to keep him from getting lonely while we're all __separated."_

_Wiping away a few tears that managed to escape, Nami nodded her head once more, "Right."_

_That's when the front door opened once more, all three adults coming out as it did. "What's going on out here?"_

_Before the two children could answer that, their attention, as well as the three adults's, was pulled to Luffy, who had been talking to several kids for a good couple of moments now, when he got a little louder._

_The young rubber boy used his index fingers to fish hook his cheeks, before stretching them outwards far more than is physically capable, and spoke while they were stretched like that, his words still mostly understandable, "See? I'm a rubber person!"_

_He then let go of his cheeks and they came back to their original position with a loud smack. A large smile spread across his face as he said, "Cool huh?"_

_All of the kids's eyes widened to the max at what they just saw, fear quite evident on their faces. Luffy recognized this, so his smile began to shrink, and as two of the kids ran away screaming, he knew it wasn't going to end well. Three of the remaining four children then cried out, "Demon!", "Monster!", "Freak!"_

_Luffy's face no longer bore a smile of any kind, and as the oldest of the four kids spoke up, the young rubber boy had to begin holding in tears, a sad expression on his face as he did. "You ate a devil fruit!? You-you're a abomination! Anyone who eats one of those things becomes something evil! You were a freak before, but now you're a devil! Get away from us!"_

_The straw hat wearing boy tried to reach out to the kids as he replied with, "Bu-but I want to be your frien-"_

_He was cut off however, as he reached forward toward them, the oldest of the kids lashed out in fear and hate, throwing a fist his way, which made contact with the left side of his face. "Stay away from us you monster!"_

_Of course it didn't cause any damage, but it did cause the young rubber boy to stumble back just a foot or so. His face was turned because of the attack, so no one could see it, but when he looked back at the children, instead of the tears that were threatening to spill before, and the hurt expression, his face was completely blank. It lacked any sort of emotion, it was the face of solemn acceptance._

_This went completely unnoticed however, as Makino and Woop Slap were currently struggling to hold back Bellemere, the red haired ex-marine fighting to get over to the children, her temper flaring. "Let me go! I'm gonna teach those brats some damn manners!"_

_Woop Slap was the only one of the two woman's restrainers to respond, "Listen here, you can't just go around beating on other people's kids, no matter how bad they might behave!"_

_"Just watch me!"_

_Just as Bellemere was going to break out of their grasp, having already dragged them several feet, she, as well as they, noticed the fact that Zoro and Nami weren't by the front door anymore. And that they were now in the middle of beating the oldest of the cruel children into the ground, the twelve year old being no match for the two at all, his friends having run off. Seeing this a smirk crossed Bellemere's face, "Way to go you two! Clobber that snot nosed brat!"_

_With that Makino and Woop Slap let go of the ex-marine and went to pry Nami and Zoro off of the preteen. As they did that, the red haired woman looked towards Luffy, watching him for a moment or so, before approaching him and crouching down so as to look him in the eye. "Hey."_

_The young black haired boy's face took on a sad expression once more, as his moment of acceptance had passed. He also acknowledged Bellemere's presence, "Hey."_

_"You shouldn't listen to morons like that, they've no idea what they're talking about. Nothing he said was true, you're not a freak, you're not a monster, and you're most certainly not a devil. You're a sweet kid with a big heart, anyone would be lucky to have you as a friend, and if they can't see that then it's their loss."_

_The straw hat wearing boy nodded his head, but did not give a verbal reply. And as he bowed his head, looking towards the ground, Bellemere knew that her words were not enough. So she sighed, before smiling once more and saying, "I guess it's fair to say you won't be welcome around here anymore, and since that's the case you'll be needing a new place to live. It just so happens that I have a spare room, right next to Nami's room in fact."_

_Luffy's head shot up to where it was level with Bellemere's, his eyes wide as he spoke, "Yo-you mean, I can-"_

_The ex-marine nodded her head, "Go pack Luffy, because your coming to stay with me and my girls."__  
><em>

_The rubber boy couldn't fight back the huge smile that made it's way across his face as he said, "Yes Ma'am."_

_Bellemere stood up as Luffy raced back to his front door, once he opened it and entered his house, the red haired woman looked toward her orange haired daughter, who was in the middle of being scolded by Woop Slap. "When she finds out he's coming to stay with us, she'll be absolutely ecstatic."_

* * *

><p>Instead of being picked on and avoided, Luffy was now downright feared and hated. He wasn't bullied anymore because no one would even stay in the same area as him, too afraid of him to do so. That had Luffy depressed for a whole day, but he was pulled out of it by Zoro, Nami, Makino and Bellemere. Eventually Luffy just came to accept the fact that they didn't want him around no matter what, so he just stopped coming around, not even bothering to step foot near his own home, if you could call it that, so as to keep away. It wasn't that bad though, because now he could stay with Nami, Bellemere and Nojiko, which made the young boy incredibly happy. And while he hated the chores Bellemere had him do, he did them without much complaint, only doing so light-heartedly from time to time.<p>

The second notable thing that happened in the last twenty one days was when Zoro introduced Luffy and Nami to his master Koshiro and the daughter of his master, Kuina.

* * *

><p><em>Two weeks ago...<em>

_Zoro led both Luffy and Nami to his master's dojo...or at least that was what was supposed to happen. But Zoro ended up getting them lost, where Nami then had to take over and lead them back to Partys Bar, and this happened several times. Eventually Nami got too frustrated to deal with this and asked Makino if she knew where the dojo was. Since she did they followed her directions, and soon found themselves there. All three children removed their sandals and entered, where they were greeted by a man with long black hair tied back into a long pony tail and glasses upon his face, sitting upon his knees. A medium sized smile was on his face as he spoke, "Hello Zoro, who are your friends?"_

_Zoro, Nami and Luffy all bowed before the swordsman trainee replied, "These are the two I told you about, Luffy and Nami."_

_Koshiro's smile widened a little before he replied, "Oh yes, I'm glad we can finally meet. Zoro has told me a lot about the both of you. Proof of the fact that you've known each other for a year, but that makes me curious, why are we just meeting?"_

_Luffy was the one to reply, scratching the back of his straw hat covered head and chuckling nervously as he did so. "Guess it kept slipping our minds."_

_Both Nami and Zoro had to fight the urge to face palm at that very weak excuse. They succeeded, but barely._

_However it seemed to be enough for Koshiro, "I see."_

_That was when someone else entered the room, and as they did everyone's eyes were drawn to them. The person who entered the room was a girl who stood an inch or two taller than Zoro, who was the tallest of the three friends by an inch or so, had dark blue hair and wore a short sleeved white shirt, as well as a pair of knee length black shorts. It only took a moment for her to notice the three friends, and when she did a smirk appeared on her face. "Hey there pipsqueak, who are your friends?"_

_Zoro grit his teeth in annoyance at Kuina's words, he should be used to this by now, but he wasn't and he was pretty sure he never would be. "Their names are Luffy and Nami, their the ones I mentioned in our last couple of duels. Guys this is Kuina."_

_"The ones you've known for a year but only just begun to talk about? Though I guess that might be because of all the brain damage you've probably taken with all the beat downs I've given you."_

_She wasn't even trying to hide the mocking tone to her voice as she said all this._

_Zoro increased the pressure on his teeth, trying to keep them grit so he wouldn't respond._

_Luffy was silent with a frown on his face, Zoro hadn't told him much about Kuina, only that they were rivals and that no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't beat her, but that was enough to know that she was just antagonizing him._

_Nami couldn't help but think she was going to like this girl._

_From there things began to spiral downward extremely fast..._

_It didn't take more than a few more words from Kuina before Zoro challenged her to another duel, and when he lost he demanded a rematch. This happened several times in a row, so Luffy and Nami ended up showing themselves out, although for different reasons._

_Nami left because she wasn't going to wait all day for Zoro, deciding to hang out with Nojiko instead._

_Luffy left a couple minutes after Nami did, but he left because he could tell Zoro would be at it until nightfall, and it would probably go past even that. And for some reason...he had the odd feeling that he wouldn't win a single round, just something of a hunch, but it resonated so strongly in his mind that he believed it. And knowing Zoro would be in a foul mood after all those losses, he decided to show himself out as well, since the green haired boy like to be left alone when he got like that._

* * *

><p>And finally the last notable thing that happened in those three weeks, was when Zoro and Nami finally got to meet Ace. It was definitely an interesting experience, for Ace at least.<p>

* * *

><p><em>One week ago...<em>

_Luffy and Ace didn't get along too well, nevertheless they did care for each other, even if it was so hard to tell that even Luffy didn't think that Ace actually cared for him all that much, even though he did. Still though, Luffy really wanted Ace to meet his two best friends, so he took the opportunity to introduce them as soon as it showed itself._

_Luffy had a mild grin as he introduced his friends to his brother. "Guys this is Ace, my older brother, Ace this is Zoro, and this is Nami, their my best friends and two of my future crew mates."_

_Luffy chuckled as he finished speaking, purely out of glee._

_At those words Nami and Zoro both smiled, while Ace also couldn't help but crack a grin as well. "Is that so? And exactly what positions are they going to fill?"_

_The younger black haired boy's smile grew larger at those words. As he answered he gestured towards Zoro, and excitedly went on about his friend, "We've already got that all figured out! Zoro is gonna be my swordsman, and since he's my first friend he'll also be my first mate! He can fill two positions! Oh and he uses two swords and is really strong!"_

_Luffy then gestured toward Nami as he continued to speak, just as excited to talk about her as he was Zoro. "And this is Nami, she's my navigator, and she's really good at drawing maps too! Also when we get lost on land, she's the only one who knows how to get us all un-lost."_

_Ace couldn't help but chuckle to himself, when he had time to talk to Luffy he'd go on and on about his friends, the older sibling was glad to see him so happy. It was, unfortunately, a rare sight. He was always so alone, even when he got reprieves from that loneliness, whether it be with Shanks, Makino, Woop Slap or even Garp the young boy was grateful. Above all else Luffy feared being alone, and Ace knew this because a little over two years ago the boy had managed to worm his way into his heart, which no one had managed to do. He was only seven at the time, but his view on the world was already quite dark and bleak because of his heritage as well as other things. But still the younger black haired boy had refused to take no for an answer when it came to Ace becoming his friend. And that was where the path to them becoming siblings had started, and now they were just that, brothers, even if they weren't related by blood._

_What had surprised him though was that by the way his younger brother went on about this Nami girl, that he had to have a crush on her. And Luffy hadn't even seemed to notice girls existed before, which could not have been a coincidence. While seeing her in person proved that she was indeed pretty as Luffy had said several times, though in the most unusual ways, it did not give the older boy any insight into what made Luffy see her in a different way than other girls._

_The oldest in the room was soon awoken from his musings as his little brother spoke once more._

_Finally Luffy gestured toward Ace, before saying, "What about you Ace? Wanna join my crew now?"_

_Ace didn't hesitate even for a second, "No thanks. I'm going to be the captain of my own pirate crew, not a member of my little brother's."_

_The younger of the two boys's smile disappeared at that and he began to pout. While the older walked up to the other two, so as to formally introduce himself. He shook hands with Zoro as he spoke, "Portgas D. Ace."_

_The green haired swordsman trainee gave his full name in return, "Roronoa Zoro."_

_And then with no warning, as he withdrew his hand from Ace's, Zoro's smile faded and he spoke up, "Luffy's told me how you're really strong...fight me."_

_Ace's eyes widened in surprise at the green haired boy's words. __The swordsman trainee even moved to pull out his wooden practice swords, and Ace eyes narrowed as he did, however before it could go any further than that the green haired boy was taken off his feet, being completely blindsided by the punch that ended up putting him on his ass._

_If Zoro didn't already know who the culprit was, which he did, being used to this kind of thing is why he knew, the person revealed themselves as they began to scream, "What the heck was that!? That's not how you greet someone you idiot! Especially your best friend's older brother! And on top of that you just met him, are you really that big of an insensitive jerk!?"_

_With her now shark like teeth protruding from her mouth, and her face wearing such an expression of agitated rage, both dark haired brothers couldn't help but shudder as they thought the same thing, "Scary..."_

_Zoro was about to voice a comeback, but Nami completely ignored him as her entire face went back to normal as she turned to Ace and spoke, chuckling nervously as she did. "Don't mind him, he's just an idiot. Anyway, as Luffy said, I'm Nami, it's nice to meet you Ace."_

_Ace couldn't help but sweat drop, "Did Luffy really have to develop a crush on such a crazy girl...?"_

_Before Ace could reply to the young girl, Zoro was back on his feet and proceeded to lock her in a head lock. She struggled, however no matter how much she did so the young green haired boy refused to loosen his grip. Instead of being worried or apologetic like most people would in her situation, Nami merely bared those sharp teeth again and proceeded to threaten Zoro with bodily harm._

_While this also took Ace by surprise, they were Luffy's friends, so he knew he should have expected them to be a little crazy. With that thought he brushed the whole situation off by indicating he had to leave. "I've gotta get going now, I'll see you guys when I see you."_

_Luffy whined at those words, "You've gotta go already? Where do you even go and why are you always there instead of here in the village?"_

_Ace just kept walking as he replied, not even bothering to turn and face his younger brother. "I'll tell you...eventually."_

_Once Ace was out of earshot Luffy sighed, before sticking his tongue out at his brother's retreating form. "And that's my brother, the big jerk."_

_However his two friends were too busy wrestling on the ground at the moment to notice the exchange. As soon as Nami had managed to wiggle out of Zoro's hold they began to fight like the children they were, which was what they were currently doing as they tried to pin each other on the ground._

* * *

><p>As for what these children were currently up to, they were all semi deep inside the forest outside of Fusha village, on Mount Corvo, Nojiko was also with them. And then there was what they were doing...<p>

Nami ran and ran, but no matter how fast she went, she just couldn't manage to give her pursuer the slip. Or to be more exact, she couldn't escape from his grasp.

The young orange haired girl giggled continuously as she continued to evade Luffy's arms as he stretched them out to get her, although it wasn't an easy task to keep away from them, even if the young black haired boy barely knew how to use his new ability.

A couple of days ago Nami, Nojiko, Zoro and Luffy had decided to play around with his new ability, and they quickly came up with a game of stretch tag. Luffy had to stand in one spot, and he wasn't allowed to move from it at all, then he would stretch his arms out and try and get a hold of one of the other three. As of yet he hadn't caught a single one of them, however as his arms closed in on Nami, that would change in a matter of moments. Just not how you would expect...

Nami continued to run from Luffy's arms, even as they ever so slowly closed the distance between them and her. The young navigator to be knew that she had to do something fast if she didn't want to get caught. And as she neared Zoro she knew exactly what it was that she needed to do.

As Luffy's arms and Nami got closer and closer to him, Zoro could no longer be at a standstill like he had been for a little while now. So he turned and began to run in the opposite direction of where they were coming from. But with Nami already moving at her top speed, the young orange haired girl managed to catch up with Zoro, before unceremoniously and violently shoving him to the side, with such force that it caused him to hit the ground, which also left him dead in the water with no way to get away as Luffy's arms encircled him and announced that he was out.

Zoro would normally get up in Nami's face because of something like that, but today had been a good day, so he was doing his best to not get into an argument with her. That of course didn't stop him from muttering to himself as he got to his feet, "Damn evil girl..."

Luffy didn't waste anytime and quickly extracted his arms from Zoro, before sending them after Nami once more. However she had a good lead now, so as they drew closer to Nojiko, who was hiding behind a tree, the straw hat wearing boy decided to switch targets. The young blue haired girl realized this quickly, but by the time she was actually moving so as to run away, the black haired boy's outstretched hands patted her on each shoulder, letting her know she was out. So she merely sighed in defeat before taking a seat right there where she had been standing.

Although he had gotten two out of three of them out, he had also lost track of Nami. She could be hiding behind a tree, a bush, or she might have gotten behind him, whatever the case was it was going to be harder to end the game now. Yet, after almost two whole minutes of looking for her, while not actually moving from his spot, his stretched out arms going to every place he looked barred from that, he could not find her. So with a heavy sigh of defeat, he called out to his sneaky friend, "Okay Nami, you win."

The young boy then began to retract his arms, but because he didn't have too much control over his ability, he ended up pulling them in too fast, so by the time they reached him they had gathered enough speed and force to knock him straight to the ground, making him give a mildly surprised yelp as he landed on his back. The black haired boy quickly sat up, Zoro and Nojiko making their way towards him as he did, before he called to his orange haired friend once more, "Did you hear me Nami!? I said you win! Now come out so we can go play something else!"

No reply came for several long moments, so the three began to grow worried. Luffy got to his feet and looked around for a few moments, before deciding to go further in, Zoro and Nojiko following behind him as he did. "Nami!? Nami!? Where'd you go Nami!?"

The three slowly made their way further into the forest as the young rubber boy called for the orange haired girl, but after a few attempts without success, her blue haired older sister began calling out as well, trying to keep herself from becoming frantic. "Nami! Where are you!? Nami!?"

Soon enough the three stumbled on a small clearing, not even big enough to put on a map, but large enough to hold around a dozen or so children. There they saw a tree stump, which Nami was tied to, and they also saw her captor standing beside her, who had his hand over her mouth to keep her quiet, who appeared to be a kid not much older then them, wearing a large, fancy black hat with goggles on it and a fancy blue and black outfit to match. "You have to stay quiet! I can't let them find me!"

This boy's attention was quickly drawn to the three who were behind him, as two of them cried out...

"Hey, let go of Nami!"

"What do you think you're doing to my sister!?"

The boy's eyes were on them, so he wasn't looking at Nami, so he failed to notice as she opened her mouth, and proceeded to bite down on his hand as hard as she could. "OW!"

He quickly pulled his hand away, shaking it about in pain as he did, "You bit me!"

Judging by the look of anger and annoyance on her face, it was obvious that this kid didn't scare her, which put Nojiko somewhat at ease. "You tied me up!"

"You wouldn't keep quiet!"

"That doesn't give you the right to tie me up!"

"Shut up! You're too loud!"

"Your the one who's being loud!"

As the two bickered, the three others were able to see two more details of this kid's appearance, he had blonde hair and a missing tooth.

Luffy, not liking being ignored when he was telling someone to let go of his friend, wound his right arm back before shooting it forward, his arm stretching a few feet so as to allow his fist to connect with the blonde kid's face, knocking him to the ground and causing him to yelp in pain. "I said to let Nami go!"

This would have caused the straw hat wearing boy to seem somewhat threatening to the young blonde, and seem cool to anyone who had seen him hit him like that, however as his arm came racing back towards him and he ended up with his own fist in his face, knocking himself to the ground, yelping in surprise as he did, it ruined the effect and had him looking ridiculous. Zoro walked over to him after that and proceeded to help him to his feet.

Nojiko usually would have sighed and shook her head at the rubber boy, but she was too busy untying her sister at the moment to do that. Once the young orange haired girl was untied, her older sister locked her a tight hug, having been very worried for her safety.

The blonde boy was supporting himself on one elbow, using his right hand to rub the already forming bruise on his face, as he wondered to himself, "How the hell did he just do that? Did he eat a devil fruit? That's the only thing I can think of."

Before the young blonde could think any further on the subject, Nami stepped over him, grabbed a hold of the collar of his shirt with both hands, and began shaking him in an elevated position, which left him on the ground, but his upper half wasn't touching it. "You can't just go around restraining people, ya fricking jerk!"

Everyone's attention was quickly pulled to the right side of the small clearing, as someone entered it, "Hey Sabo, the coast is clear now, we can head ou-"

Ace stopped mid-sentence as he noticed all who was in the clearing, Zoro helping Luffy to his feet, and Nojiko watching as Nami violently shook Sabo by his shirt collar, chewing him out as she did. There were the beginnings of a bruise on his face as well. As the the nine year old black haired boy took this all in, there was complete silence in the clearing for several long moments, before he finally asked, "What the hell is going on here?"

As those words left Ace's mouth, Nami let go of Sabo's shirt collar and let his upper half fall to the ground, his head hitting it hard because of that. "Ow!"

Luffy, seemingly ignoring his older brother's question, smiled real big before saying, "Hi there Ace!"

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>To Be Continued...<strong>_


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